Environmental Law Problem Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6500 words

Environmental Law Problem - Research Paper Example On the first question raised by the plaintiffs, whether navigable waters of the United States include only naturally occurring bodies of water, so that man made improvements to rivers are not considered navigable water, this court denies certiorari, therefore the opinion of the ninth circuit court of appeals, rendered on October 11, 2011, stands. Facts of the Case The County of Los Angeles (hereinafter â€Å"The District†) operates a series of MS4s. An explanation of MS4s is as follows. The cities that comprise the County of Los Angeles all operate a series of storm drains which catches the runoff from rainwater. This is distinguishable from a drain which catches sewer water for treatment at a sewage treatment plant. In this case, what is captured is untreated storm water. That said, this untreated stormwater typically also has a variety of pollutants, such as heavy metals, bacteria, and the like. Also, trash also gets washed into these MS4s. Moreover, the individual MS4s are interconnected. This is because all the municipalities in the Los Angeles County system are able to connect to a centralized system run by the District, which is their flood control and storm-sewer infrastructure. This is comprised of some 2,800 miles of storm drains and some 500 miles of open channels. This stormwater is collected and is channeled into various waterways, including the waterways which are the subject of this litigation – the Los Angeles River, the Santa Clara River, the San Gabriel River and the Malibu Creek. The river waters, in turn, channel into the Pacific Ocean by way of the Santa Monica Bay, the Los Angeles Harbor and the Long Beach Harbor. Statement of the Case The procedural history for this case is as follows. In December 2001, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board for the region of Los Angeles, issued a NPDES Permit to 84 cities, in an effort to regulate stormwater and urban runoff discharges. This permit recognized that there could be extraneous sources for the pollutants in waters, and that these extraneous sources would be sources over which the Permittees had no jurisdiction. Each of the permittees were responsible only for its own discharge. The Permit also had monitoring and reporting programs. On March 3, 2008, the respondents, Natural Resources Defense Council and Santa Monica Baykeeper filed a complaint against the City of Los Angeles and others, on the basis that the water quality standards has exceedances of pollutants, which would constitute a violation of the Permit standards. Part of the Respondents argument was that the District was responsible for pollutant exceedances because the monitoring stations were within the channelized portions of the rivers operated by the District as a part of its flood control system, therefore the District was responsible for any exceedances measured there. This argument was rejected by the District Court, who stated that, due to the decision in South Florida Water Ma nagement District v. Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, 541 U.S. 95, 105 (2004), that a discharge does not result from moving waters from one portion of a body of water to another. The District Court went on to state that, because of the decision rendered in South Florida, a discharge can only be from a point source. Since the District was not discharging pollutants from a point sourc

Political economy essay questions Research Paper

Political economy essay questions - Research Paper Example In America where which is a strong democracy in the world, citizens have the ability to enjoy leisure in contrast to developing countries where in addition to rampant poverty among the majority; their democracies are feeble and wanting. This leads to the assumption that democracy can be correlated with the kind of life citizens enjoying and that the conditions that allow democracy to flourish are similar to those that allow citizens to enjoy leisure. The two are desirable elements of an individual’s life and therefore they must be closely related. Nevertheless, democracy and leisure have some dangers to the society as is the case of leisure and therefore countries must strike balance to avert the consequences of those dangers. Despite the desire of all persons to achieve democracy and leisure, both can have devastating impacts to the society and therefore understanding those dangers can enhance co-existence in the society. This paper will therefore make a comparative study of the theory of Democracy in America by Tocqueville and the Theory of the Leisure class as postulated by Veblen. In 1835, Tocqueville published first volume of his works; Democracy in America and the second volume followed five years later in 1840. In the first volume, Tocqueville mostly concentrated on the structure and institutions of the government in America that enhance maintenance of freedom in America. The second part was mostly focused on individuals in the society and impacts of democratic thoughts and mores that are widely spread in the society (Leroy 195). When looked as a whole, Tocqueville works points to various problems of democracy to the society and proposes strategies for dealing with them. On the other part, Veblen came up with the theory of leisure class which was first published in 1889. In his works, Veblen asserted that leisure class can only flourish in barbarian cultures (Veblen 1). He writes ‘’ the institution of a leisure class is found in its

Sri Lanka Tourism Problems and Development

Sri Lanka Tourism Problems and Development 1. Sri Lanka is an island country and god has given to Sri Lanka blessings of nature blue seas, green hills, sandy beaches, abundant wildlife, cascading waterfalls, a riot of flowers and fruits, coconut groves, tea estates, spice gardens. Here ones day can be gloriously lazy by a palm cool lagoon or full of joy, swimming, snorkeling, and fishing or sailing like a brilliant jewel in the sparkling waters of the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka is located in a strategically considered naval spot on the world map. This significant situation creates a path for a major sea route. In addition it creates a strategic naval link between West Asia, Africa and East Asia. Sri Lanka entered the international tourism arena in the 1960s. Since then, government involvement has been the key factor in tourism development in Sri Lanka. The Ceylon Tourist Board (CTB) was established in 1966 in order to provide direction and leadership to this promising sector of the developing economy. The country is famous for h ealthy and cultural heritage. Hospitality, tropical forests, natural and fascinating beaches, archeological sites and the tropical climate are the more attractive features. These factors make Sri Lanka a wonderful tourist destination. Over the years tourism in Sri Lanka has developed significantly. Today tourism has become the sixth Foreign Exchange Earner (FEE) in Sri Lankan economy. 2. Tourism can make a great impact on development of the Sri Lankan economy. Tourism is a fast growing industry which has been identified presently. Employment opportunities and regional development are playing significant role with regard to the tourism industry development. It can be considered as the most important industry in the country as a whole. The governments vision is to make the tourism sector as Sri Lankas most innovative and profitable income generating source. 3. During past three decades Sri Lankas tourism industry had few draw backs. This was mainly due to the security situation which prevailed in the country. Further the tourism industry was also affected due to the Tsunami catastrophe which occurred in 2004. Approximately 2/3rd of the coastal area including tourist infrastructure facilities was destroyed. The immediate post war period gave rise to a dramatic increase of tourist arrival from end May 2009. 4. In order to support the efforts and to develop the tourism sector in Sri Lanka there should be hotels with exclusive facilities which are in par with the international standards to accommodate a large number of visitors. In the year 2010 approximately one million tourists visited Sri Lanka. Unlike in the past, the inflow of tourists is increasing day by day as a result of the end of the 30 year civil war which destroys the whole country. Following graph indicates how tourism increased from 1966 to 2011 in Sri Lanka. The government is expected to receive 2.5 million tourists in 2016. To cater for this increase tourist hotels in Sri Lanka must be developed. Similarly other facilities should also be increased to meet the desired economic goals. AIM 5. The aim of this paper is to analyze the development of Sri Lanka tourism -challenges and opportunities GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF SRI LANKA 6. Sir Lanka has a various terrain but it mainly consists of flat lands but south-central portion of the countrys step sided river, canyons interior features and mountain. The compliment regions are the areas where most of Sri Lankas agriculture takes place, aside from coconut farms along the coast. Sri Lankas climate is tropical and the southwestern side of the island is the wet test. . The northeastern side of Sri Lanka is drier and most of its rain falls from December to February. Most of the rain in the southwest falls from April to June and October to November Sri Lankas average yearly temperature is 86 °F to 91 °F. An important geographic note about Sri Lanka is its position in the Indian Ocean, which made it vulnerable to one of the worlds largest natural disasters. On December, 26, 2004, it was struck by large tsunami that hit 12 Asian countries. Around 38,000 people in Sri Lanka were killed during this incident and much of Sri Lankas coast was destroyed. 7. Sri Lanka is situated in strategic location near major Indian Ocean sea lanes. It has a total area of 65,610 km ², with 64,740 km ² of land and 870 km ² of water. Its coastline is 1,340 km long. Sri Lankas climate includes tropical monsoons: the southwest monsoon (June to October) and the northeast monsoon (December to March), its terrain is mostly low, flat to undulating plain, with mountains in the south-central interior. The highest point is Pidurutalagala at 2,524.13 m. Resource include limestone, mineral sands, gems, graphite, phosphates, clay, and hydropower. 8. Adams Bridge, a land connection to the Indian mainland, is now mostly underwater with only a chain of limestone shoals remaining above sea level. According to temple records, this natural causeway was previously complete, but was breached by a violent storm (probably a cyclone) in 1480. SRI LANKAS COMMITMENT TO TOURISM 9. Tourism is a vital area in the policy structure has been identified as capable of efficiently driving the countrys socio economic development. The programmes vision for the tourism sector is to make Sri Lanka foremost freedom destination in the South Asian Region. The programme believes the human resources and natural and cultural endowments values and nation will be essential in transforming Sri Lanka into a centre of excellence and offer tourists the highest values of real experiences in its unique setting. 10 The One Stop Unit Unit for National Investment in Tourism is a Centralized promotion and facilitation center Established Thurs assist potential tourism investors interested in investing in Sri Lanka Tourism Industry. Specialist staff from various government agencies helps investors Identify possible projects, Obtain information possible, Regarding Investments, submit applications, and Provide support in obtaining investment promotion privileges, trade licenses and other approvals Requested for project clearance. OSU Prevents the need for investors Thurs spend time in search of answers and ensures all queries are handled by its specialist staff. 11. Serious civil disturbances starting in July 1983 and the subsequent violence badly affected tourism. Total arrivals were 230,106 in 1986, down 43 percent from 1982. To ease the dilemma of the industry, the government provided various concessions to hotels, such as the rescheduling of loans and the reduction of the turnover tax from 10 percent to 5 percent. The Ceylon Tourist Board also undertook a crash promotion program in an attempt to restore the islands image in world tourist markets. Tourist arrivals in the first six months of 1987, however, showed a decline of 23 percent compared with the same period the previous year. In early 1988, the outlook was for further contraction. 12. In 1988 it remained unclear whether the policies of economic liberalization Sri Lanka has pursued since 1977 would succeed in their principal goals of employment, wealth creation, and economic diversification. Although increased rice production, the growth of textile manufacturing, and an improved infrastructure were successes that could be attributed to the post-1977 policies, these gains came at the cost of a mounting foreign and domestic debt and declining living standards for the poor. POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT TOWARDS TOURISM 13. The One Stop Unit Unit for National Investment in Tourism is a Centralized promotion and facilitation center Established Thurs assist potential tourism investors interested in investing in Sri Lanka Tourism Industry. Specialist staff from various government agencies helps investors Identify possible projects, Obtain information possible, Regarding Investments, submit applications, and Provide support in obtaining investment promotion privileges, trade licenses and other approvals Requested for project clearance. OSU Prevents the need for investors Thurs spend time in search of answers and ensures all queries are handled by its specialist staff. 14. Serious civil disturbances starting in July 1983 and the subsequent violence badly affected tourism. Total arrivals were 230,106 in 1986, down 43 percent from 1982. To ease the dilemma of the industry, the government provided various concessions to hotels, such as the rescheduling of loans and the reduction of the turnover tax from 10 percent to 5 percent. The Ceylon Tourist Board also undertook a crash promotion program in an attempt to restore the islands image in world tourist markets. Tourist arrivals in the first six months of 1987, however, showed a decline of 23 percent compared with the same period the previous year. In early 1988, the outlook was for further contraction. 15. In 1988 it remained unclear whether the policies of economic liberalization Sri Lanka has pursued since 1977 would succeed in their principal goals of employment, wealth creation, and economic diversification. Although increased rice production, the growth of textile manufacturing, and an improved infrastructure were successes that could be attributed to the post-1977 policies, these gains came at the cost of a mounting foreign and domestic debt and declining living standards for the poor. PROMOTION OF TOURISM INVESTMENT 16. The Board of Investment has introduced incentives in the form of tax exemptions, duty-free imports and the relaxation of controls on foreign exchange holdings. The incentives provided by the government have mainly attracted investment in the hotel sector. The present hotel capacity is 13,670 rooms. That figure is projected to increase to 21,000 rooms by 2004, which will accommodate the target of 1 million tourists. Five regional domestic airports to be restructured at a total cost of approx. Rs. 2bn: Rathmalana, Koggala ,Ampara , Trincomalee Jaffna (Rathmalana will be developed as a City Airport) Previous year. This denotes that tourism industry is one of the core sources of foreign exchange earner in economy of Sri Lanka. Due to the development of tourism improved accessibility via new highways and conversion of military to domestic airports may make high-end hotels in the Deep South and the East of Sri Lanka viable alternatives to the Galle area. OPPORTUNITIES FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY 17. Tourism directly affected to economy of a country. The momentum of growth in tourism, as result of the post conflict peaceful environment, the tourist arrivals grew to 654,476 in 2010 surpassing the previous record of 566,202 in 2004. Tourist nights one of an important indicator in measuring the volume of tourist traffic, has recorded 6, 544, 760 in 2010. It shows 60.6 per cent increase compared to 2009. Total receipts in 2010 amounted to US $ 575.9 million as against US $ 349.3 million recorded for the year 2009. It indicates a vast increase of 64.9 per cent than THREATS FOR TOURISM INDUSTRY 18. Development of tourist hotels in Sri Lanka will extremely support the rapid economic development. Developments of tourist hotels, increase room capacities, increase occupancy rates and develop the condition of rooms and upgrade the service provided in the hotels are the key factors to be mainly focused on if to develop tourism. It indeed contributes to the development of tourism and in turn development of economy of the country. Tourist hotel industry should be developed in most of the famous city for tourism with sufficient amount of tourist hotels 19. As political risk introduces additional elements of uncertainty into the rules governing tourism investment projects, the risk of capital loss is raised for longer- term projects. Political risk also negatively influences the timing and pricing of the tourism production process. Negative images, lack of foreign exchange for tourism development, lack of skilled manpower, weak institutional frameworks for tourism planning, political instability caused by communal violence, civil war conflicts are inhibitors to tourism development. However, little is known about how international tourism firms perceive political risks and other general barriers and threats to tourism promotion in Sri Lanka. 20. Common political factors which affect the tourism industry are revolution, civil war, factional conflict, ethnic violence, religious turmoil, widespread riots, terrorism, nationwide strikes, protests, cross- national guerrilla warfare, world public opinion, repatriation restrictions, bureaucratic politics, leadership struggle, high inflation, border conflicts, high external debt service ratio and creeping nationalization. Last thirty years Sri Lanka also faced the civil war and it affected the tourism industry of Sri Lanka. Organizing elections frequently also create threat to the tourism industry because during the election period in some places to control the situation cur hews are implemented. 21. This will create negative image in the mind of tourists. Some of the foreign countries have reject Sri Lankas products in their country due to the violation of human rights during the war time. For example government invested and spent on IIFA programme but it was not a successful event for Sri Lanka because the big stars have boycotted the event. They didnt visit Sri Lanka because of the protests held in their country by asking them not to visit the place. Currently Sri Lanka is having negative relationship with some foreign countries therefore the export and import of Sri Lankan products will be decreased and it affects the tourism industry as well. FUTURE TRENDS, CHALLENGES 22. Source markets in Asia and Middle East to drive demand: Sri Lankas proximity to source markets such as India and its connectivity to the Middle East and China will help in sustaining tourism growth. The rise in per capita income and therefore consumer spending in these source markets will aid the growth in tourism. 23. Infrastructure growth to fuel tourism growth: To ensure rapid growth of tourism in the future, tourism projects will need to be balance with infrastructure development. We expect that with improvements in road infrastructure and development of the new airport in Hambantota, various new destinations will emerge in the country, especially to the north and the east, as these areas have abundant natural beauty to attract tourists but currently suffer from poor connectivity. We expect more airlines to operate in the country as the second airport develops. 24. Greater competition will facilitate growth: We also expect greater competition with the introduction of new hotels in popular destinations such as Colombo, Kandy, Bentota, and Sigiriya, and Galle. We expect the existing hotels to undertake phased renovations to effectively compete with the upcoming hotels. Also, with the increase in income from hotels over the past few years, we expect an increase in the number of hospitality related transactions and mergers and acquisitions. 25. Challenge of attrition to other destinations: Currently, the hotel industry witnesss significant employee attrition to countries in the Middle East and to the Maldives and India. However, with a more stable political environment and improvement in quality of living in Sri Lanka, we expect the attrition to gradually 26. Shortage of skilled labor: As new players enter the market, the projected growth in tourism will be accompanied by shortage of skilled labour. We anticipate the need for relive hospitality education institutions as the contribution of the tourism sector to the overall economy increases. SUMMARY 27. Sri Lanka is located in a strategically considered naval spot on the world map. Sri Lanka entered the international tourism arena in the 1960s. Since then, government involvement has been the key factor in tourism development in Sri Lanka. Over the years tourism in Sri Lanka has developed significantly. Today tourism has become the sixth Foreign Exchange Earner (FEE) in Sri Lankan economy.Tourism can make a great impact on development of the Sri Lankan economy. Employment opportunities and regional development are playing significant role with regard to the tourism industry development. The governments vision is to make the tourism sector as Sri Lankas most innovative and profitable income generating source. 28. During past three decades Sri Lankas tourism industry had few draw backs. In the year 2010 approximately one million tourists visited Sri Lanka. Following graph indicates how tourism increased from 1966 to 2011 in Sri Lanka. To cater for this increase tourist hotels in Sri Lanka must be developed. Sri Lankas climate is tropical and the southwestern part of the island is the wettest. . Around 38,000 people in Sri Lanka were killed during this incident and much of Sri Lankas coast was destroyed. 29. Total arrivals were 230,106 in 1986, down 43 percent from 1982. The Ceylon Tourist Board also undertook a crash promotion program in an attempt to restore the islands image in world tourist markets. This denotes that tourism industry is one of the core sources of foreign exchange earner in economy of Sri Lanka. Tourism directly affected to economy of a country. Development of tourist hotels in Sri Lanka will extremely support the rapid economic development. Developments of tourist hotels, increase room capacities, increase occupancy rates and develop the condition of rooms and upgrade the service provided in the hotels are the key factors to be mainly focused on if to develop tourism. Tourist hotel industry should be developed in most of the famous city for tourism with sufficient amount of tourist hotels 30. Negative images, lack of foreign exchange for tourism development, lack of skilled manpower, weak institutional frameworks for tourism planning, political instability caused by communal violence, civil war conflicts are inhibitors to tourism development. However, little is known about how international tourism firms perceive political risks and other general barriers and threats to tourism promotion in Sri Lanka. 31. Last thirty years Sri Lanka also faced the civil war and it affected the tourism industry of country. Some of the foreign countries have reject Sri Lankas products in their country due to the violation of human rights during the war time. Currently Sri Lanka is having negative relationship with some foreign countries therefore the export and import of Sri Lankan products will be decreased and it affects the tourism industry as well. 32. Sri Lankas proximity to source markets such as India and its connectivity to the Middle East and China will help in sustaining tourism growth. To ensure rapid growth of tourism in the future, tourism projects will need to be balance with infrastructure development. We expect the existing hotels to undertake phased renovations to effectively compete with the upcoming hotels. We also expect the hotel companies, especially the domestic companies located in the country to undertake long and medium term hospitality training programs and regularly undertake competition benchmarking for compensation to retain the talent. RECCOMONDATIONS 33. These are the recommendations which we can produce in related to tourism. Develop a marketing strategy: Emphasizing the creation and sustaining of a positive image of Sri Lanka as a substantive and well-established tourist destination offering facilities experiences that are distinct Sri Lankan products. Establish a domestic tourism strategy: To expand the existing product base and encourage a greater level of holiday movements in addition to pilgrim movements. Develop goods and services: To meet the increasing needs of the tourism industry, and thus optimize the economic benefit of tourism development to Sri Lanka. Modify the organization of tourism activities: In order to bring about related improvements in the private sector, increase coordination between tourism and interrelated sectors, and introduce streamlining to facilitate the development of the tourism sector. Emphasize the environmental, social and cultural aspects: Tourism Development Planning is the only way to solve many issues related to tourism in development. Therefore the tourism planning process should be designed to produce goals and objectives for the destination area related to tourism development. The tourism development plan provides overall guidelines for development and identifies development opportunities. Many development countries are involved in tourism planning. Financial Assistance: Financial assistance for hotel owners and any other profession in tourist sector would help to create more employment opportunities. Domestic Airport: Airport also more than 100 km away from the tourist destination it is needed have domestic airports. Surfing Training: This will create more employment opportunities and generate good income. Among the tourists there are some people they love for surfing and keen to learn. Conduct Language Teaching: Language barrier should be overcome by conducting specially job oriented language training. Employ Combat Divers: Surfing is risky and adventure sport it dont take much time for some to happen therefore as precautionary measure it is needed some combat divers close to the surfing area it would enhance the confidence of people who do surfing. Proper Taxi Service: Taxi service should be reformed introducing good vehicles fixed with meter system and giving training for drivers. Improve Infrastructure Facilities: Infrastructure facilities such as Power, Highways, Railways, Airports, Ports, Water Supply, Telecommunications, Accommodations, and Recreational, Shopping and Banking to be improved. Awareness Programs: Tourists should be informed on specific social, cultural and religious environment programmed. GAD ALWIS SLE Maj STUDENT OFFICER -DSCSC

Email Privacy Issues :: essays research papers

Email Privacy Issues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As a result of recent lawsuits against many organizations, companies have developed a policy on proper email practices on company computers. No longer is your personal email regarded as private when accessed on a company’s computer. Companies, in order to decrease lawsuits and increase productivity, have purchased email monitoring software to track email usage during work hours. Therefore, with the onslaught of email monitoring, is a private email really private?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In NetworkWorld’s The Perils of Privacy, Sharon Gaudin discusses the benefits of a company having a well-defined email policy. She provides the pros and cons of whether a company should invest in an email monitoring system. According to Gaudin, companies are held liable for what their employees do when using company equipment. A joke between to college buddies can be deemed sexual harassment by the company and open up a lawsuit if it ends up in the wrong hands. Because of this, companies have begun monitoring not only emails that employees send, but the websites they visit. Is this ethical? Some would say yes. A company has to protect its name and assets. The business arena is just for that†¦business. Employees are not paid to do personal business on company time. Leisure activity on the internet slows productivity and costs money. On the other hand, if a â€Å"clerk uses her lunch break to scan the Web for information on abuse victims, [and] the info rmation she calls up also flashes onto a screen in her boss's office, and now he knows a secret she never told anyone,† isn’t that a violation of her privacy?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While this issue seems to be one of ongoing debate, I am one who does not take sides. On one hand I can see the need for corporations to monitor their employees. Information within an email can be deemed unimportant to the mission and goals of the company.

Operation Market Garden: Battle of Arnhem

With German forces on the run following the Allied success at Normandy and the breakout and pursuit across France, Allied forces were staged to enter Germany in late summer 1944. Both Field Marshal Montgomery and General Bradley clamored to be given the priority of effort. General Eisenhower chose Montgomery’s Operation MARKET GARDEN as the plan for action. It called for airborne forces to open the route for a ground force to move more than sixty miles up a single road, ending up north of the Rhine River near Arnhem, Netherlands. By accomplishing this task, the German Ruhr industrial heartland would be within easy grasp. But the operation failed. The ground force did not make it to the last bridge; it was six more months before Allied forces crossed the Lower Rhine River near Arnhem. Between 17 and 26 September 1944, there were 17,000 Allied casualties including eighty percent of the 1st Airborne Division (UK). The historical evidence overwhelmingly shows that the British 1st Airborne Division lost the Battle of Arnhem because of poor planning. This paper will prove the failure of The Battle of Arnhem was not solely the fault of MG Roy Urquhart. Although this was his first command of such a division (being an â€Å"outsider†) could he have not completed his wartime mission any better despite having inexperienced leaders planning airborne operations, bad intelligence, allowing the Air Force to plan the DZs based off what was best for the air movement plan and poor execution. This paper examines MG Urquhart, the commander of 1st Airborne Division (UK). The 1st Airborne Division (UK) was made up of three brigades of infantry (two parachute, one glider borne), supporting artillery and anti-tank batteries and substantial Royal Engineer units, as well as supporting elements such as Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps units and 1st Independent Polish Brigade. The task of securing the Rhine Bridgehead fell to the 1st Airborne Division under the command of Major General Roy Urquhart. The Division was required to secure the road, rail and pontoon bridges over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem and hold them for two to three days until relieved by XXX Corps. Understand Despite the fact that the individual soldiers involved in Operation Market were, on the whole, well trained and disciplined, there were some limitations in the leadership that hurt the operation’s chances of succeeding. Major General Roy Urquhart was new to the airborne corps and Operation Market would be his first airborne operation. Montgomery and Brereton, who was the overall commander of the First Allied Airborne Army, both had little experience in airborne operations. LTG Browning, Brereton’s deputy, had experience in airborne operations, but it was limited to the staff level. Although the individual soldiers that would plan and carry out the Battle of Arnhem were well-trained, some of the key leaders had weaknesses that limited the ability of the operation to succeed. During the planning for Market Garden, Urquhart regarded it as the job of an airborne commander to get hold of as many transport aircraft as possible without sparring a thought for the other Divisions involved, and so he made a habit of lodging frequent requests with Corps HQ. One time he asked for a further 40 aircraft from Browning, who was doubtful that even a small number of these would materialize. Urquhart's account of the operation, he was told that â€Å"because of the limited number of aircraft available, he would have to go in three lifts† and that â€Å"his† plan had to be tailored to fit three lifts. Visualize From the beginning, however, Urquhart was severely restricted in how he could prepare and deploy his troops for the upcoming battle. The U. S. IX Troop Carrier Command were limited in their availability; with two more major drops taking place at the same time, there were insufficient carrier aircraft available to fly the entire division to the Netherlands in one lift. British commanders knew they were badly short of transport aircraft and the area near Arnhem was ill-suited for a landing. They decided they'll have to land in an open area eight miles (13 km) from the bridge. With more of his officers disagreeing with distance, Urquhart told his officers they will use the gliders to transport jeeps to make the travel to Arnhem. However, due to the ambush, most jeeps didn't arrive or was shot up and damaged beyond use. It has been opined that if he had been an experienced airborne commander, Urquhart may have been more determined to oppose the decision to land the whole Division 8 miles from the bridge, rather than drop the parachutists much closer to it. It is a point that those who knew the General would refute without difficulty. However it is true that his objection to the poor air plan could have been stronger than it was, but it must be remembered that Urquhart had to plan an entire operation in only seven days, and so when faced with stubborn opposition from fellow commanders he had little option but to accept the situation and move on. Nevertheless, these failings in the plan sealed the fate of Market Garden before it had begun. The initial airborne drops caught the Germans totally by surprise, and there was little resistance. MG Urquhart, later wrote that â€Å"ever since the first landing, General Bittrich commander of the II SS Panzer Corps and his staff had expected the British second lift. † He also wrote that the Germans had provided early warning measures for follow-on lifts and knew about the second lift 45 minutes before it reached the drop zone, which allowed them to divert anti-aircraft guns that were being used in the ground battle to the drop zone in order to oppose the landings. Lead One of the major problems encountered at Arnhem was the failure of the radio sets used; they either did not work, or ground conditions and the existence of so many areas full of trees often made radio links unworkable. Urquhart could visibly see that the 1st Para Brigade and the Divisional Units were going about their business without problems, but the 1st Airlanding Brigade were out of sight on LZ-S, and so he set out in his Jeep to verify that they were alright. It was at the HQ of Brigadier Hicks that Urquhart had heard that the Reconnaissance Squadron was forced to abandon its swift attack attempt on the Bridge after running into Battalion's Krafft's blocking line. The 1st Para Brigade could not be contacted by radio, and so Urquhart, growing increasingly anxious and impatient, made the fateful and very dangerous decision to set out in his Jeep to find the commander of the 1st Para Brigade, Brigadier Lathbury and warn him that no British forces would be at the bridge when his men arrived. Lathbury was paying a call on the 3rd Battalion when Urquhart caught up with him, but a hort time later the forward elements of the Battalion encountered the German blocking line. After the skirmish had ended, Urquhart returned to his Jeep to find that it had been hit by a mortar and his signals operator had been seriously wounded. Lathbury was unhappy with how his Brigade plan was progressing, while Urquhart realized that he was losing control of events and knew that he must get back to his HQ as soon as possible; unfortunately the area was now decidedly unsafe for either man to leave the protection of the 3rd Battalion. BG Lathbury was wounded and had to left behind with a Dutch family to get him to the hospital. Meanwhile, Urquhart and company pressed on until they could go no further. Anton Derksen and his family offered them shelter in their attic, which Urquhart reluctantly accepted. Almost immediately after the street was filled with soldiers of the Wehrmacht and several surrounded the house in which Urquhart was hiding, and they were followed by a self-propelled gun which came to a halt directly outside, though all were blissfully unaware of the General's presence. All Urquhart could think about was that he had to return to HQ as soon as possible, and he was quite prepared to destroy the SP gun using the few grenades they had at their disposal and then make a dash for it. He was dissuaded from doing so by his companions because they would certainly be killed or captured within moments. Urquhart could do nothing but wait in frustration until British troops caught up with him. It wasn't until morning on Tuesday 19th that the group were able to leave the house. On Monday 25th, Urquhart was told to withdraw his men from Oosterbeek at a time of his choosing. At 8am he radioed Major-General Thomas and said â€Å"Operation Berlin†, the codename for the withdrawal. It was not an easy thing to do as his Division was extremely weak at this time, and if the Germans sensed that a withdraw was in progress then they would rush in to cut them off from the River bank. Urquhart assessing his division and its capabilities, he developed a plan. His plan was excellent under the circumstances. Calling LTC Charles Mackenzie, his Chief of Staff, to work out the finer details, he said: â€Å"You know how they did it at Gallipoli, Charles? Well, we've got to do something like that†. Many years ago, Urquhart had studied the classic withdrawal from this First World War conflict. He remembered how great care was taken to maintain the illusion of defiance until the last moment, meanwhile the forward positions were thinned out and the force was evacuated from the beaches in good order, while the enemy were completely oblivious to it. The Division would withdraw from top to bottom, with those in the north leaving their positions first, and so on until everyone was out. There were so many wounded by this time that it was agreed that they could not be evacuated and so would stay behind, together with all medical staff, and take over the vacated positions, meanwhile the Light Regiment and XXX Corps would continue to fire their guns until the last moment. This way it appeared as if nothing had changed. When the senior officers assembled at Divisional HQ to hear the plan, Urquhart gave specific instructions that word of the withdrawal should not be given until it was almost time to depart, as with a day's fighting to still to endure the capture and subsequent interrogation of anyone who knew would place the entire operation in jeopardy. This plan was successful in allowing 2,000 men of the 1st Airborne Division to withdrawal and join Second Army southern bank of the Neder Rijn. In conclusion, despite having inexperienced leaders planning airborne operations, bad intelligence, allowing the Air Force to plan the DZs based off what was best for the air movement plan and poor execution, MG Urquhart displayed outstanding qualities of leadership and courage. Although, the initial planning and beginning phases of this is operation was full with flaws, MG Urquhart's leadership and planning after things went awry was without question. During the phase of the battle when 1st Parachute Brigade became separated from the rest of the Division he personally organized an operation for the relief of 1st Parachute Brigade and himself became involved in street fighting during this period. Later, when the remnants of the Division were withdrawn into a close perimeter, his defensive planning, and his determination were largely instrumental in ensuring the defense put up by the troops of his Division. During the withdrawal, his cool planning, foresight and initiative were responsible for 2,000 men of the Division rejoining their comrades of the Second Army on the southern bank of the Neder Rijn. The conduct of MG Urquhart throughout this operation was beyond praise.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Essay

Often people are traumatized by traumatic events that take place their lives. We seldom expect these events to happen so we often do not know how to react when it does happen, this can lead to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In this assignment is the definition of PTSD, the reason why South Africa has such a high prevalence of PTSD and also the methods of prevention of PTSD will be discussed. DEFINITION OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be defined as a response people have to traumatic events in life and can arise as an immediate, delayed and/or protracted response (Seedat, 2011). These events can be natural disasters, such as a tsunami or earthquake, or it can be ‘human-made’ like a hijacking or an assault, and even things like apartheid and xenophobia (Austin, et. al. , 2011:111) (Seedat, 2011). PTSD can lead to a person feeling helpless and having an intense fear (Austin, et. al. , 2011:111). To diagnose a person with PTSD, three main criteria of symptoms must be visible in the person namely the person must be re-experiencing the traumatic event, the person must have an avoidance associated stimilu, and the person must have a hypervigilance and chronic arousal (like having anger issues or not being able to sleep) (Austin, et. al. , 2011:111) (Seedat, 2011). These three symptoms can be in a minimum state, but all three need to be visible before a person can be diagnosed with PTSD (Austin, et. al. , 2011:111). All symptoms must be shown for a month or more and cause signifcant distress or impairment in social or occupational areas of functioning and if these symptoms carry on for more than three months it can be seen as chronic PTSD (Seedat, 2011). Different psychological factors can play a role in the development and maintanence of PTSD. These factors were identified by Edwards (2005c) as emotionally distressing and problematic processes of guilt, shame, grief, anxiety, dysfunctional and/or distorted cognitions, and various cognitive, affective, and behavioural avoidance mechanisms (Austin, et. al. , 2011:111). WHY SOUTH AFRICA HAS SUCH A HIGH PREVALENCE OF PTSD PTSD is fairly common as approximately eight out of 100 people will develop PTSD (Seedat, 2011). Women are twice as likely as men to develop PTSD (Seedat, 2011). Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is very common in South Africa because of various reasons (Seedat, 2011). In 1997, the World Health Organization issued a study on the Global Burden of Disease. They found that mental disorders are second in burden to infectious diseases (Burke, Unknown). There have not been much studies of trauma disorders in SA, but the existing research suggests that South Africans, especially black South Africans, are still struggling with SA’s past, this being the apartheid which started in 1948 and lasted until 1994 (Burke, Unknown). In 1997, Market Research Africa and the Community Agency for Social Equality issued a study of face-to-face interviews with 3,870 adults who grew up during this time and the results were that 17% of people who had been exposed to trauma described their mental health as poor. There were 2 % of people who were exposed to violent events and 78 % of this 23% had one or more symptoms of PTSD (Burke, Unknown). Most peo ple who lived through apartheid do not suffer any symptoms of PTSD, but there are those people who are still so undone by the atrocities of the apartheid era that they still suffer the symptoms of PTSD. The symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder have many different consequences for different people. PTSD can sometimes lead to drug and alcohol abuse. According to a report from the Health Department released recently, South Africa has the highest rates of alcoholism in the world (Burke, Unknown). METHODS OF PREVENTION OF PTSD Some evidence suggests that intervening with medications or psychotherapy within a short time after the traumatic event may prevent PTSD to develop (Seedat, 2011). One possible method for the prevention of PTSD is the Child and Family Traumatic Stress Intervention (CFTSI). The purpose of this method is to prevent the development of PTSD within a 30 day range after experiencing a potentially traumatic event. In a study, a number of 7 to 17 year old children were randomly assigned to the intervention or to a four-session supportive Comparison condition. The results were that the children part of the CFTSI had less and less symptoms of PTSD which suggests that a caregiver-youth and early intervention for children exposed to a potentially traumatic event is a promising method to prevent chronic PTSD (Berkowitz, Stover, and Marans, 2010). Another possible method for the prevention of PTSD is memory structuring intervention (MSI). Studies have been made on how trauma is processed which lead to the creating of MSI. In a randomised-controlled study, traffic accident victims who were at risk for PTSD were assigned to two MSI or two supportive-listening control sessions and the MSI patients reported a significantly less frequent arousal and PTSD symptoms than the controls (Gersons, Carlier, Lamberts & Kolk, 2001). CONCLUSION PTSD can come forth when people are exposed to a traumatic event, and it can become a chronic disorder if it lasts for longer than 3months. In South Africa we have a high prevalence for PTSD. We think that there are more people who were part of the apartheid era, that have PTSD than what studies have shown. Not every person understands the severity of PTSD or knows the symptoms of PTSD so they don’t realize that they have it. PTSD is not only treatable but possibly preventable too. There is no definite prevention method as different people handle different situations in different ways. Thus it would be good if people were more aware of the symptoms more could be done to prevent PTSD. Biblography Austin, TL., et al., (2011). Schizophrenia. In TL. Austin, et. Al. Abnormal Psychology: A South African Perspective (pp. 160-193). Cape Town: Oxford University Press South Africa. Burke, L. (Unknown). The consequences of truth: Post-traumatic stress in new South Africa (continued). Retrieved April 20, 2012, from South Africa in Transition: http://journalism.berkeley.edu/projects/southafrica/news/traumapart2.html Gersons, Carlier, Lamberts & Kolk. (2001). Translating Research Findings to PTSD Preventionl: Results of a Randomized-Controlled Pilot Study. Retrieved April 21, 2012, from Spingerlink: http://www.springerlink.com/content/w18292635382q182/ Seedat, S. (2011, 03 01). Depression – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Retrieved April 20, 2012, from Health 24: http://www.health24.com/medical/Condition_centres/777-792-807-1650,11960.asp